


Elevators and phone calls

by Fleur_de_Violette



Series: Whumptober (more like hurt/comfortober-november-december) 2020 [8]
Category: Batman - All Media Types, DCU (Comics)
Genre: Claustrophobia, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Jason Todd Needs A Hug, Panic Attacks, Phobias, Tim Drake is a Good Brother, Whumptober 2020
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-25
Updated: 2020-11-25
Packaged: 2021-03-10 05:46:41
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,641
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27708539
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Fleur_de_Violette/pseuds/Fleur_de_Violette
Summary: Out of all the way to spend his afternoon, stuck in an elevator with a freaking out Jason Todd hadn’t been on Tim’s plan.Whumptober day 18: phobias
Relationships: Tim Drake & Jason Todd
Series: Whumptober (more like hurt/comfortober-november-december) 2020 [8]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1984960
Comments: 10
Kudos: 191





	Elevators and phone calls

**Author's Note:**

> So, I’m not sure all of the things listed in there count as phobias. But there it is. Hope you’ll enjoy the story. On other news, Cass needs a hug, and she isn’t even in the fic.  
> Warning: There is a sligh allusion to the events of Nightwing #93

“Hi, your new helmet is ready.” Said Tim without turning from the batcomputer. He heard Jason make a surprised noise behind him. It never got old. 

For his defense, his older brother had a bad run with a gang last week, thankfully leaving him with nothing worse than a badly sprained ankle and a broken helmet. Jason on cruches wasn’t as stealthy as healthy Jason. 

Tim had agreed to make a new helmet for the Red Hood and the Bat-R&D team (which consisted of Harper, Lucius and himself) had some fun with it. The brand-new hood was lighter but more solid than the previous one, equipped with a rebreather and filters for all kinds of toxins, as well as night vision and infrared vision. All in all, he was pretty proud of themselves. He just received the text saying that it was ready when his brother tried to sneak on him. 

Tim turned the chair to face his brother. 

“Wanna see it? I need to get it from Wayne Tower.”

Jason shrugged, and smiled. 

“Sure.” 

And with that, they were gone. While driving from the manor to the tower Tim couldn’t help but think about how far their relationship had gone. When he first heard about Jason Todd, the other was a dead kid. The previous Robin. Jason Todd was a concept. A place to fit in. And then, when Jason returned, he could see that the other was nothing like the tales he’d been told. He was angry, violent, vengeful. He tried to kill him. 

And somehow, with time, things got better, and Tim learned to see Jason as a middle ground. Not a perfect ideal to reach. Not a monster to defeat. A human, with his ups and down. 

He guessed that Jason had started to appreciate him too. That he went from the kid who replaced him to a trusted brother and ally. Considering that the second oldest was often seen at siblings gathering and that he trusted Tim with his tech, that was probably true. 

They finally reached Wayne Tower, and Tim called the elevator. Noticing his brother moving toward the stairs, he sighed. 

“The secret room is on Lucius’s office. On the eighth floor. You’re on crutches. Stop playing all tough and get into the elevator.”

For some reason, Jason seemed uncomfortable with the idea, but he said nothing as he got into the elevator. 

Tim entered the floor number and leaned on the wall as the doors closed. He watched silently as the numbers went by on the small screen, his mind on the case file Cassie had sent him earlier.

Somewhere between the fifth and sixth floor, the elevator stopped. Tim cursed under his breath while punching the call button. Everything in the tower was cutting-edge technology. The elevator shouldn’t be doing that. 

He was resigning for the wait, wondering about who he should contact about this when he heard a noise next to him. It took him a few seconds to realize the sound was coming from his brother. 

“Jason? Is everything…”

He stopped when he came face to face with his brother, question already answered. Everything was not all right. 

Jason’s hands, which were previously typing nervously on the wall, were clenched in his hairs. His eyes were wide open, breath coming in short wheezes. When Tim took a step forward, one of his hands shot behind his back, where Tim knew a gun was hidden. The younger took a step backward, hands in the air.

“Woah, hey. I’m not gonna hurt you.”

And, to his surprise, Jason crumbled to the floor, making the elevator shake with his weight. Not one second later Tim was on his knees next to him. The hand on the gun didn’t seem to move, so Tim took it as a good sign. 

“Can I touch you?” 

The oldest didn’t seem to register the question, so Tim snapped his fingers a few times in front of his face, hoping it would help him focus and not frighten him further. 

“Jason. This is important. Can I touch you?”

Jason nodded, unsure, and Tim let out a breath. He put his hand on his brother’s chest. 

“Alright, exahle when I’m touching you, inhale when I’m not. You know how this work.” 

They did know. They calmed down victims on a daily basis and sometimes each other. Tim just hadn’t been expecting to have to do that today. After some time, Jason seemed to marginally calm down and Tim retreated. 

“Are you feeling any better?”

Jason nodded. 

“Can you remove your hand from the gun?” 

Slowly, too slowly for Tim’s liking, Jason’s hand moved from the gun to rest on his side. Tim let out a breath and sat on the ground. 

“Are you scared of me?” asked Jason, talking for the first time. He sounded unsure but Tim guessed this was as good as he would get. 

“A little.” He said honestly. He put his fist on Jason’s knee, tapping irregularly. Giving him something to focus on. 

“Did you hurt your leg when you fell?” Tim asked, more to make conversation than anything. Jason took a second to understand before shaking his head. He snorted. 

“This is ridiculous. I flirt with death every night. Hell, I’ve died and all it takes is an enclosed space to reduce me to this.” 

Tim shook his head. 

“This isn’t ridiculous.” He took a breath. Let it out. Said, really quickly. “I have Harper makes phone call for me.” 

Jason raised his head. 

“What?”

Tim looked at the ground. 

“When I have to call someone I don’t know very well, I have Harper do it. I know it’s not her job, she’s a tech, not my assistant, but I ask her to.”

He took another breath. Now or never, Drake. 

“I ask her because I’m scared. Sometimes I feel like if I make a phone call, the person at the end of the line won’t be the one I’m trying to reach, but Ra’s Al Ghul. Or someone equally horrible.” 

Jason’s face turned into real sympathy. 

“Shit, Timbo… That’s fucked up.” 

Tim shook his head, trying to shake off some of the feelings. 

“What I mean is. This isn’t ridiculous. We’ve been through some horrible stuff, you maybe more than everyone. You have the right to be scared, no matter how irrational it is. If anything, it’s my fault. I should have noticed something.” 

“How is that your fault?” Jason barked. “Please, no self-hating bullshit while we’re stuck in a closed space. I don’t know if you’re noticed but I’m kinda on edge here.”

Tim let out a laugh, his hand still on Jason’s knee. After a short while of them just sitting there stuck in the elevator, Tim started talking again, more to cover the silence than anything else. 

“Duke is scared of the dark.” 

That actually made Jason laugh. 

“Can’t he see in the dark? Like, redistribute light and stuff.” 

Tim shrugged. 

“Like I said. Irrational. Maybe it is linked to his powers. I don’t know.” 

Jason moved his hand, starting to tap on Tim’s ankle in the same way his little brother was doing on his knee.

“Come on. Who is scared of what? Entertain me.” 

Tim smiled. 

“Dick is scared of spiders.” 

“No, he isn’t.” 

Tim tilted his head. 

“Have you seen him around spiders?” 

“Yes. When I was Robin. And he wasn’t scared.” 

Tim felt something cold wash over his shoulders. So, it wasn’t a natural fear then, but rather one brought by trauma. Suddenly it felt way less funny.

“Well, he is now.” 

He took a deep breath. 

“Steph isn’t comfortable with men raising their voices.”

Jason winced in sympathy. 

“And Cass is scared of thunderstorms.”

His older brother smiled. 

“Cass isn’t scared of anything.” 

Tim let a sad smile on his face. 

“She is. When she’s allowed to be.” 

Dread fell over both of them at the mention of their little sister horrible life. 

“Barbara wired the clock tower so that she doesn’t have a doorbell anymore.” Continued Tim before realizing he wasn’t lightening the mood by any means. 

“I don’t know what Damian is scared of. But there has to be something.” 

He was hoping to make the conversation less grim, but Jason replied “He’s just a kid, after all.”, and that sobered him up immediately. 

“Bruce is still weary around guns…” he knew this was a touchy subject for Jason, so he moved on, “… and I saw him flinch last time a bat went too close to him.” 

Jason snorted.

“You would think after more than fifteen years of dressing up as a bat he would stop being scared. Thanks God we’re not the ones making out our names out of our fears.”

Tim was grateful for the change of topic. 

“Really? Don’t you think _phone-calls-man_ and _enclosed-space-man_ strike fear?” 

Jason just laughed.

“Dick would have a copyright issue.” The youngest said, absently, and that’s the moment the elevator choose to start again. Jason’s hand clenched on his ankle, and he squeezed his brother’s knee in a way he thought was reassuring. 

When the doors opened, Jason practically crawled out of the elevator and Tim was left to gather the crutches and help him up. 

“You know,” he said, trying not to make a big deal out of the whole ordeal, “You could have just said something. I would have gotten it while you were waiting in the lobby.” 

Jason said nothing as they went to the secret storage and retrieved the helmet, so Tim added: 

“I know I’m not the best example, no one is in this family, but it’s not a shame to ask for help, you know no one would…” 

“Timbo.” Jason cut him, nodding toward the flight of stairs. “Help me down.” 

Tim smiled. Message received then. 

“My pleasure.”

**Author's Note:**

> Alright. This is getting less and less whumpy and more and more fluffy. I’m planning to write another little piece about Cass and Duke’s fears. It might not be the next one tough.


End file.
